H1N1 in Singapore

According to Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, it is only a matter of time before the Mexican swine flu strikes Southeast Asia and its first case could well be in Singapore – one of the region’s most globalised cities. (CNA, 30 April 09)

Nope. The flu virus is not in Singapore yet. Personally, I am somewhat disappointed… not that I wish Singapore would be affected. Rather, it is in a strange way a measure of how globalised we are. Hong Kong, South Korea and now Malaysia have reported cases of H1N1. Perhaps we are not as globalised as we thought (or hope) we were.

Hong Kong’s H1N1 case and South Korea’s first 2 cases seems to have originated from Mexico. (Was our visa requirement for Mexicans effective?) Malaysia’s case and South Korea’s 3rd patient brought in the virus from the USA. Given that we were affected by SARs, maybe we are only regionalised and not globalised.